Brittany Schnicke poses for a photo with family members and coaches after winning the Division 1 individual state bowling title at Sterling Lanes on Saturday.
STERLING HEIGHTS — The first piece of advice for Brittney Schnicke after the tips of her fingers were cut off was to go to the sink.
During her sophomore year at Caledonia High School, Schnicke was in wood shop class when she suffered an accident that severed the tips of her middle and ring fingers on her left hand.
“It was on the jointer,” Schnicke said. “I was trying to sand down a piece of wood and I guess the pilot got caught on the guard and my finger just slid off.”
And yes, the fingers that Schnicke severed off a couple of years ago were on her bowling hand.
If this sounds like some gruesome story where there is no way Schnicke and her family can look back on it and laugh at it in any manner whatsoever, you are mistaken.
The family was all smiles and laughs Saturday at Sterling Lanes in Sterling Heights, posing for pictures and gleefully celebrating Schnicke’s individual state championship at the Division 1 state bowling tournament.
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Now a senior, Schnicke defeated Brighton senior Natalie Klein in the title match, rallying from a 37-pin deficit for a 440-404 victory.
It was quite an improbable journey since that awful day, which included her finger tips being completely obliterated into the jointer and her running off to the sink frantically to get it washed up before an ambulance arrived.
Schnicke’s parents, Michelle and Chuck, were notified and when they got to the hospital, Michelle Schnicke said doctors were asking about the whereabouts of the finger tips in hopes of re-attaching them.
“They asked if we had it,” Michelle Schnicke said. “It was already off.”
After a day in the hospital to fix the wounds, the first thing on Brittney Schnicke’s mind was whether she would be able to bowl again.
Fortunately, doctors said she could, although she had to have surgery on the fingers a week after the accident and was told to wait a few months before rolling again.
Of course, with parts of her bowling fingers gone, it was almost like learning how to bowl again.
“My whole grip system had to be changed,” Schnicke said. “I couldn’t put a grip in it. I had to put my whole ring finger in it. The whole thing changed. When I first started, I would throw 100 games. But I got used to it. My junior year, my average went up 10 pins.”
Schnicke came back better than ever, winning the regional tournament as a junior to qualify for the state tournament. She then had a terrific senior year, winning the regional tournament for a second straight year.
At the state tournament, Schnicke came out of the qualifying block as the No. 11 seed and started off the elimination round with a 419-320 win over Flint Carman-Ainsworth senior Caity Cox.
Schnicke then beat Clarkston freshman Hannah Turk in the quarterfinals, 378-358, before beating Macomb Dakota senior Hannah Forton in the semifinals, 412-393.
Schnicke then recovered from the bad first game against Klein to claim the title and put quite a storybook ending she wasn’t sure she would enjoy after her accident.
“Every year, she has progressed,” Michelle Schnicke said Saturday. “Even there, she struggled yesterday and struggled this morning. She just battled back.”
Indeed, it certainly was easy for the Schnickes to glean the most important lesson of the entire situation.
“Never give up,” Chuck Schnicke said. “That’s the bottom line right there. Never give up.”